Client-server based interactive television program guide system with remote server recording

• US 9,554,163 B2
• Filed: 02/29/2016
• Issued: 01/24/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 07/14/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Rovi Guides, Inc. (Adeia Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Rovi Guides, Inc. (Adeia Inc.)
• Inventors: Ellis, Michael D., Thomas, William L., Lemmons, Thomas R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Bruckart, Benjamin R
• Assistant Examiner(s): TESFAYE, AKLIL M
• Application Number:
  US15/056,685
• Publication Number:
  US 20160205420A1
• Time in Patent Office: 330 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/00 Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2143 located in a single building, e.g. hotel, hospital or museum arrangements specially adapted for plural spots in a confined site in broadcast systems H04H20/63; adaptations for transmission by electric cable for domestic distribution in television systems H04N7/106
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2225 Local VOD servers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23113 involving housekeeping operations for stored content, e.g. prioritizing content for deletion because of storage space restrictions storage management, e.g. defragmentation G06F3/0604; snloading stored programs G06F9/445; housekeeping operations in file systems, e.g. deletion policies G06F16/10; buffering arrangements in a network node or in an end terminal in packet networks H04L49/90
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2318 using striping
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/233 Processing of audio elementary streams monitoring, identification or recognition of audio in broadcast systems H04H60/58
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2335 involving reformatting operations of audio signals, e.g. by converting from one coding standard to another details of audio signal transcoding G10L19/173
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23439 for generating different versions
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2353 specifically adapted to content descriptors, e.g. coding, compressing or processing of metadata
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2387 Stream processing in response to a playback request from an end-user, e.g. for trick-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2543 Billing , e.g. for subscription services payment schemes, architectures or protocols G06Q20/00; e-commerce G06Q30/00; arrangements for billing for the use of broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/21
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25435 involving characteristics of content or additional data, e.g. video resolution or the amount of advertising
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/262 Content or additional data distribution scheduling, e.g. sending additional data at off-peak times, updating software modules, calculating the carousel transmission frequency, delaying a video stream transmission, generating play-lists scheduling strategies for dispatcher in multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/4881; arrangements for scheduling broadcast services or broadcast-related services H04H60/06; flow control in packet networks H04L47/10; establishing a time schedule or organising the servicing of application requests H04L67/62
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26283 for associating distribution time parameters to content, e.g. to generate electronic program guide data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/274 Storing end-user multimedia data in response to end-user request , e.g. network recorder
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2747 Remote storage of video programs received via the downstream path, e.g. from the server
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4334 Recording operations recording of a television signal H04N5/76; arrangements for recording or accumulating broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/27
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4335 Housekeeping operations, e.g. prioritizing content for deletion because of storage space restrictions storage management, e.g. defragmentation G06F3/0604; unloading stored programs G06F9/445; storage management in file systems G06F16/10; buffering arrangements in a network node or in an end terminal in packet networks H04L49/90
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47202 for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47208 : for requesting near-video-on-demand content
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47214 : for content reservation or setting reminders; for requesting event notification, e.g. of sport results or stock market stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; notification of incoming messages in packet switching networks H04L51/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47217 : for controlling playback functions for recorded or on-demand content, e.g. using progress bars, mode or play-point indicators or bookmarks specific graphical features in visual interfaces H04N21/4312
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/482 : End-user interface for program selection broadcast systems using EPGs H04H60/72
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4821 : using a grid, e.g. sorted out by channel and broadcast time
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4828 : for searching program descriptors retrieval of video data G06F16/739
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6175 : involving transmission via Internet broadcast-related systems characterised by the transmission system being the Internet H04H60/82
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/643 : Communication protocols network streaming protocols, e.g. real-time transport protocol [RTP] or real-time control protocol [RTCP], H04L65/65
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/64322 : IP
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6581 : Reference data, e.g. a movie identifier for ordering a movie or a product identifier in a home shopping application
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6587 : Control parameters, e.g. trick play commands, viewpoint selection
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 : involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8586 : by using a URL processing chained hypermedia data for information retrieval G06F16/94; information retrieval from the Internet by using URLs G06F16/955; URL in broadcast information H04H20/93; Web-based protocols H04L67/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/91 : Television signal processing therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 : Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17336 : Handling of requests in head-ends

Abstract

An interactive television program guide system is provided. An interactive television program guide provides users with an opportunity to select programs for recording on a remote media server. Programs may also be recorded on a local media server. The program guide provides users with VCR-like control over programs that are played back from the media servers and over real-time cached copies of the programs. The program guide also provides users with an opportunity to designate gift recipients for whom programs may be recorded.

Claims

1. A system for searching for programs using a text box, the system comprising:

a user equipment comprising;

a first communications circuitry configured to;

transmit search information to a server;

transmit a request to access an on-demand program to the server; and

receive video of the on-demand program from the server;

first control circuitry configured to;

generate for display a search region that includes the text box, wherein the text box allows users to input the search information;

receive, via the text box, the search information;

transmit, to the server by the first communications circuitry, the received search information;

receive, from the server by the first communications circuitry, a set of identifier information comprising identifier information for a scheduled broadcast program and identifier information for the on-demand program, wherein the on-demand program is different from the scheduled broadcast program, and wherein the scheduled broadcast program and the on-demand program are associated with the search information;

generate for display the set of identifier information comprising the identifier information for the scheduled broadcast program and the identifier information for the on-demand program;

receive a selection of the identifier information for the on-demand program from the displayed set of identifier information;

in response to receiving the selection of the identifier information for the on-demand program, transmit, to the server by the first communications circuitry, the request to access the on-demand program;

receive, from the server by the first communications circuitry, the video of the on-demand program; and

generate for display the received video of the on-demand program; and

the server comprising;

a second communications circuitry configured to;

receive the search information from the user equipment;

receive the request to access the on-demand program from the user equipment;

transmit the video of the on-demand program to the user equipment;

a memory configured to store identifier information for scheduled broadcast programs comprising the identifier information for the scheduled broadcast program and identifier information for on-demand programs comprising the identifier information for the on-demand program; and

second control circuitry configured to;

receive, by the second communications circuitry, the search information transmitted by the first communications circuitry of the user equipment;

retrieve, from the memory, the identifier information for the scheduled broadcast programs;

retrieve, from the memory, the identifier information for the on-demand programs;

based on the received search information, select, for inclusion in the set of identifier information, the identifier information for the scheduled broadcast program and the identifier information for the on-demand program;

transmit, to the user equipment by the second communications circuitry, the set of identifier information;

receive, from the user equipment by the second communications circuitry, the request to access the on-demand program;

transmit, to the user equipment by the second communications circuitry, the video of the on-demand program.

2. The system of claim 1,

wherein the search information comprises characters that represent at least one of a program title and an actor, and

wherein the identifier information for the scheduled broadcast programs and the identifier information for the on-demand programs comprise at least one of the program title and the actor for each respective program.

3. The system of claim 1,

wherein the second control circuitry is further configured to:

compare the received search information against the retrieved identifier information for the scheduled broadcast programs and against the retrieved identifier information for the on-demand programs; and

select the identifier information for the scheduled broadcast program and the identifier information for the on-demand program for inclusion in the set of identifier information when the respective identifier information matches the received search information.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the server is a remote server located on a first network different from a second network of the user equipment.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the server is a local server located on a same network as the user equipment.

6. A system for searching for programs using a text box, the system comprising:

a memory configured to store identifier information for scheduled broadcast programs comprising the identifier information for the scheduled broadcast program and identifier information for on-demand programs comprising the identifier information for the on-demand program; and

control circuitry configured to;

generate for display a search region that includes the text box, wherein the text box allows users to input search information;

receive, via the text box, the search information;

retrieve, from the memory, identifier information for scheduled broadcast programs;

retrieve, from the memory, identifier information for on-demand programs, wherein the on-demand programs are different from the scheduled broadcast programs, and wherein the scheduled broadcast programs and the on-demand programs are associated with the search information;

based on the received search information, select, for inclusion in a set of identifier information, identifier information for a scheduled broadcast program from the retrieved identifier information for the scheduled broadcast programs and identifier information for an on-demand program from the retrieved identifier information for the on-demand programs, wherein the on-demand program is different from the scheduled broadcast program, and wherein the scheduled broadcast program and the on-demand program are associated with the search information;

generate for display the set of identifier information comprising the identifier information for the scheduled broadcast program, and also comprising the identifier information for the on-demand program;

receive a selection of the identifier information for the on-demand program from the displayed set of identifier information; and

in response to receiving the selection of the identifier information for the on-demand program, transmit, to a server, a request to access the on-demand program;

receive, from the server, a video of the on-demand program; and

generate for display the received video of the on-demand program.

7. The system of claim 6,

wherein the search information comprises characters that represent at least one of a program title, and an actor, and

wherein the identifier information for the scheduled broadcast programs and the identifier information for the on-demand programs comprise at least one of the program title and the actor for each respective program.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein the control circuitry is configured to:

compare the received search information against the retrieved identifier information for the scheduled broadcast programs and against the retrieved identifier information for the on-demand programs; and

select the identifier information for the scheduled broadcast program and the identifier information for the on-demand program for inclusion in the set of identifier information when the respective identifier information matches the received search information.

9. The system of claim 6, wherein the memory and the control circuitry are located at a user equipment.

10. The system of claim 6, wherein the server is a first server, and wherein the memory and the control circuitry are located at a second server on a first network different from a second network of a user equipment.

11. The system of claim 6, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:

receive the identifier information for the on-demand programs from the first server; and

store the received identifier information for the on-demand programs to the memory.

12. The system of claim 6, wherein the server is a first server located on a first network different from a second network of a user equipment and wherein the memory and the control circuitry are located at a second server located on the second network of the user equipment.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:

receive the identifier information for the on-demand programs from the first server located on the first network different from the second network of the user equipment; and

store the received identifier information for the on-demand programs to the memory.

14. A method for searching for programs using a text box, the method comprising:

generating for display, at a user equipment, a search region that includes the text box, wherein the text box allows users to input search information;

receiving, at the user equipment, via the text box, the search information;

transmitting, from the user equipment, the received search information to a server;

receiving, at the user equipment, from the server, a set of identifier information comprising identifier information for a scheduled broadcast program and identifier information for an on-demand program, wherein the on-demand program is different from the scheduled broadcast program, and wherein the scheduled broadcast program and the on-demand program are associated with the search information;

generating, at the user equipment, the set of identifier information comprising the identifier information for the scheduled broadcast program and the identifier information for the on-demand program;

receiving, at the user equipment, a selection of the identifier information for the on-demand program from the displayed set of identifier information;

in response to receiving the selection of the identifier information for the on-demand program, transmitting, by the user equipment to the server, a request to access the on-demand program;

receiving, at the user equipment, from the server, a video of the on-demand program;

storing, at the server to a memory at the server, identifier information for scheduled broadcast programs comprising the identifier information for the scheduled broadcast program and identifier information for on-demand programs comprising the identifier information for the on-demand program; and

receiving, at the server, the search information;

retrieving, at the server from the memory at the server, the identifier information for the scheduled broadcast programs;

retrieving, at the server from the memory at the server, the identifier information for the on-demand programs;

selecting, at the server, based on the received search information, for inclusion in the set of identifier information, the identifier information for the scheduled broadcast program and the identifier information for the on-demand program;

transmitting, from the server to the user equipment, the set of identifier information;

receiving, at the server from the user equipment, the request to access the on-demand program; and

transmitting, from the server to the user equipment, the video of the on-demand program.

15. The method of claim 14,

wherein the search information comprises characters that represent at least one of a program title, and an actor, and

wherein the identifier information for the scheduled broadcast programs and the identifier information for the on-demand programs comprise at least one of the program title and the actor for each respective program.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

comparing the received search information against the retrieved identifier information for the scheduled broadcast programs and against the retrieved identifier information for the on-demand programs; and

selecting the identifier information for the scheduled broadcast program and the identifier information for the on-demand program for inclusion in the set of identifier information when the respective identifier information matches the received search information.

17. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

receiving, at the user equipment, the identifier information for the scheduled broadcast programs and the identifier information for the on-demand programs from the server;

storing the received identifier information for the scheduled broadcast programs and the received identifier information for the on-demand programs to a memory on the user equipment.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein the server is a first server located on a first network different from a second network of the user equipment.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

receiving, at the user equipment, the identifier information for the scheduled broadcast programs from a program guide server;

receiving, at the user equipment, the identifier information for the on-demand programs from the first server located on the first network different from the second network of the user equipment;

storing the received identifier information for the scheduled broadcast programs and the received identifier information for the on-demand programs to a memory on the user equipment.

20. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

receiving, at the first server, the identifier information for the on-demand programs from a second server located on a third network different from the second network of the user equipment; and

storing the received identifier information for the on-demand programs at the memory at the first server.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the first network and the third network are a same network.

22. The method of claim 14 wherein the server is a local server located on a same network as the user equipment.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

receiving, at the user equipment, the identifier information for the scheduled broadcast programs from a program guide server;

receiving, at the user equipment, the identifier information for the on-demand programs from the local server located on the same network as the user equipment; and

storing the received identifier information for the scheduled broadcast programs and the received identifier information for the on-demand programs to a memory on the user equipment.

24. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

receiving, at the local server on the same network as the user equipment, identifier information for the on-demand programs from a remote server located on a network different from the same network of the user equipment.

25. A system for searching for programs using a text box, the system comprising:

means for generating, at a user equipment, for display a search region that includes the text box, wherein the text box allows users to input search information;

means for receiving, at the user equipment, via the text box, the search information;

means for transmitting, from the user equipment, the received search information to a server;

means for receiving, at the user equipment from the server, a set of identifier information comprising identifier information for a scheduled broadcast program and identifier information for an on-demand program, wherein the on-demand program is different from the scheduled broadcast program, and wherein the scheduled broadcast program and the on-demand program are associated with the search information;

means for generating, at the user equipment, for display the set of identifier information comprising the identifier information for the scheduled broadcast program and the identifier information for the on-demand program;

means for receiving, at the user equipment, the selection of identifier information for the on-demand program from the displayed set of identifier information;

means for transmitting, by the user equipment to the server, in response to receiving the selection of the identifier information for the on-demand program, a request to access the on-demand program;

means for receiving, at the user equipment, from the server, a video of the on-demand program;

means for storing, at the server to a memory at the server, identifier information for scheduled broadcast programs comprising the identifier information for the scheduled broadcast program and identifier information for on-demand programs comprising the identifier information for the on-demand program;

means for receiving, at the server from the memory at the server, the search information transmitted by the user equipment;

means for retrieving, at the server from the memory at the server, the identifier information for the scheduled broadcast programs;

means for retrieving, at the server, the identifier information for the on-demand programs;

means for selecting, at the server based on the received search information, for inclusion in the set of identifier information, the identifier information for the scheduled broadcast program and the identifier information for the on-demand program;

means for transmitting, from the server to the user equipment, the set of identifier information;

means for receiving, at the server from the user equipment, the request to access the on-demand program; and

means for transmitting from the server, the video of the on-demand program to the user equipment.

26. The system of claim 25,

wherein the search information comprises characters that represent at least one of a program title, and an actor, and

wherein the identifier information for the scheduled broadcast programs and the identifier information for the on-demand programs comprise at least one of the program title and the actor for each respective program.

27. The system of claim 25, further comprising:

means for comparing the received search information against the retrieved identifier information for the scheduled broadcast programs and against the retrieved identifier information for the on-demand programs; and

means for selecting the identifier information for the scheduled broadcast program and the identifier information for the on-demand program when the respective identifier information matches the received search information.

28. The system of claim 25, wherein the server is a remote server located on a different network from a network of the user equipment.

29. The system of claim 25, wherein the server is a local server located on a same network as the user equipment.